Engaging Patients Leads to
Earned Revenue

Samantha Pennington explains how she uses her point of sale system for Enhanced Services in EQUIPP: “For LAMP (Longitudinal Adherence Monitoring Program) and those where we targeted them (patients) through our med sync program… as soon as I got that list, I put them on that program, did the quarterly reviews, and was able to manage them that way. For the blood pressure program, I created a facility in our (system).”

For their blood pressure program, Samantha created a designated “alert” within their pharmacy management system, and directed a technician to add relevant patients to this functionality. To prompt action, Samantha added a “blood pressure” note to patient labels, alerting cashiers to direct these patients to a pharmacist while at the point of care. She then trained the pharmacists to discuss blood pressure with patients using EQUIPP talking points while conducting the screenings for payment by the payer. The pharmacy staff is busy, so implementing Enhanced Services into the pharmacy workflow requires allotting time for documentation, but it shouldn’t be difficult.

Pennington agrees, “It’s very easy to do, to document. I think the hardest part is like getting that data to a place where you can utilize it. So once you have the data, documenting it takes minutes. I mean, very, very easy to do. Now compiling the data may take like 30 minutes a week.” 

This proactive approach, where they’d ask patients for a quick blood pressure check, led to significant success, with many patients returning for follow-up checks. Pennington added the patients were very appreciative and that the program helped show patients the clinical services the store offers.

“With the blood pressure program, it was really a good opportunity for us to show that we were more than just dispensing a pharmacy, and we recently implemented Test and Treat in our pharmacy as well,” says Pennington. “So those kind of things went hand in hand with showing our value outside of just dispensing.”

When contemplating new goals for 2025 EQUIPP Enhanced Services engagement, Samantha Pennington expresses strong enthusiasm and anticipation for upcoming opportunities. She mentions actively checking for these opportunities since the beginning of the year and enjoys implementing them into their workflow and making them a priority. Pennington says, “I’m excited to see what else will qualify for and are able to do (in EQUIPP). It’s really been fun to be a part of both the LAMP program and the blood pressure program as well.